The past few months have seen decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms gain a cult-like following on the back of a bullish cryptocurrency market. This revolution in digital money is now spilling over into the gaming industry, creating a cross between DeFi and the gaming experience that experts now anticipate will play a huge role in the next generation of gaming.
DeFi-focused tokens such as Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), and Chainlink (INK), to name a few, have experienced exhilarating moments in the markets, gaining significant traction as major developments continue.
Investors and speculators should expect more going forward, given the bold move by the likes of Solana Foundation and Houbi Ventures to invest in early-stage blockchain-based gaming platforms that integrate DeFi into their system.
The Emerging Game Play model is set up to highlight the benefits of blockchain technology in the gaming industry and beyond. In this article, we look at some of the latest developments in the DeFi gaming space while discussing what the future holds for this emerging sector.
DeFi Simplify Games
DeFi Land, a multi-chain farming simulation game designed to enable a decentralized financing experience, just raised $4.1 million in a funding round that saw more than 40 investors participate.
Founded in 2021, DeFi Land is a privately owned company headquartered in India with a primary focus on creating educational and entertainment solutions for users looking to explore the DeFi space.
DeFi Land farming simulator is designed with all the features that you would find on a traditional DeFi platform. Unlike most DeFi platforms, DeFi Land features an interoperable ecosystem that is able to run on other established platforms such as Uniswap or even PancakeSwap from Binance Smart Chain.
This approach is designed to help DeFi Land avoid reinventing the wheel, thus allowing its users to access automated market-making protocols, decentralized exchanges, and pioneering protocols on other blockchain networks. In DeFi Land, every digital asset is represented in the form of a factory. For example, Solana’s SOL token is sunflower and USDC stablecoin is cornflower. Users can cultivate these tokens and earn an annual return that comes in the form of a bountiful harvest.
To make it easier for users to learn the ins and outs of DeFi, DeFi Land features a training mode where users can learn all about DeFi using fake assets while playing within a guided version of the game.
Brian Lee, a senior executive at Alameda Research – one of the companies that participated in the investment round in DeFi Land – said that DeFi Land blends “two of the most interesting things that are happening in cryptocurrencies right now – gaming and DeFi.”
Huobi Ventures is betting big on DeFi games
With a growing wave of institutional capital pouring into the DeFi space, more companies are starting to pay serious attention to the sector, and Huobi Ventures is one of them.
Huobi Ventures, the investment arm of Huobi Cryptocurrency Exchange, recently announced a $10 million fund that will invest in early stage projects that combine gaming experience with decentralized funding features, such as GameFi.
In addition to financial support from Huobi Ventures, startups that accepted the challenge will also receive Huobi’s support in terms of legal and technical support for their project, not to mention public relations and commercial assistance.
“Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the gaming business model and will play an essential role in the next generation of games,” said Huobi Ventures Director Unica Yin.
Huobi Ventures has also announced a $100 million fund for DeFi projects, which will reportedly help Huobi create strategic mergers and acquisitions in the blockchain and crypto space.
Playing model to earn
Aside from investors and project developers fueling the furnace being played for profit, communities of players and non-fungible tokens (NFT) enthusiasts are also joining the fray as we have seen with recent developments like Crypto Gaming United and Zebedee which managed to close $5 million and $11.5 million in financing rounds, respectively.
Crypto Gaming United – a startup that aims to build a global guild community of gamers in the gaming space to earn – has raised $5 million in a crowded seed funding round. The tour was led by Australia’s largest venture capital firms Mark Carnegie and Chrono.tech.
Crypto Gaming United is an NFT-based gaming syndicate with over 1,500 members. The syndicate operates across multiple gaming platforms, providing gamers with education as well as financial literacy about the digital economy. It generates revenue by dividing the revenue generated within the gaming platforms it sponsors with its members.
Headquartered in Singapore, the syndicate comprises mostly players from South Africa, India and Indonesia with a common theme being players from low-income economies. Since most players are unable to purchase expensive gaming equipment and assets, sponsors in the guild can provide funding that allows players to generate revenue. The syndicate founders also acknowledge the fact that Singapore is a forward-looking jurisdiction in terms of digital assets and cryptocurrencies.
“At Crypto Gaming United, we beat the cost of admission to play, thus allowing players to generate income through their gaming exploits,” Carnegie noted.
Crypto Gaming United is not the only organization in the race. Zebedee is also in the action as we’ve seen with its $11.5 million Series A funding.
Zebedee provides a suite of tools and products that enable developers to integrate Bitcoin (BTC) into their games while giving gamers access to wallets, streaming tools, and other performance-enhancing gaming infrastructure.
Games are a turning point
The relationship between the DeFi sector and the gaming industry is mutually beneficial. On the other hand, players who spend many hours and money on gaming platforms will be able to invest their time and progress. DeFi platforms and the entire industry will also have an easy process of onboarding new users, thus increasing mainstream adoption.
Experts are already predicting that the for-profit trend will blur the lines between financial assets and in-game collectibles that were previously viewed as worthless. This will allow a new generation of players to exchange in-game assets outside of the gaming platform.
DeFi mechanisms allow different gaming platforms to not only make the gaming experience entertaining but also profitable as players will be able to earn money just by playing.
Already, blockchain-based collectible and tradable games like AXIE Infinity and Splinterlands show that the play-for-profit business model not only has the potential to disrupt the gaming industry but also change how users learn and interact with DeFi platforms.
With the video game industry valued at $175 billion and the DeFi space currently worth nearly $100 billion in total locked value, the intersection of both areas could be a real game-changer.
